MBP 2.2: Stock or BTO?

My apologies ahead of time if this has been asked by other people recently.

I recently purchased an MBP 2.2 Ghz Matte at my local Apple store, but before I opened the box, I found out you can get 5% cash back from Discover if you use their card and link to the online Apple Store from their website.

I have returned the stock model so I can buy online and get the extra cash back.

My question is: Now that I have the option of a larger hard drive, should I go ahead and get it? The reason I ask is that I know BTOs are harder to return if you have problems, and based on horror stories, I'd like to know if 40gb less of hard disk space is worth being able to exchange at the Apple Store.

Also, is the 5400 RPM 160gb any faster than the 120 due to the perpendicular recording, or is that just a myth? I don't need 7200 RPM, and I am coming from a 700mhz iBook with 640mb of Ram and 20Gb of hard drive. 120 is more than enough for now, but I don't want to run into space problems like on this machine, and have to be super careful on what I keep on the computer so as to not waste space.

I have an 80GB in my MacBook Pro and I just store all the stuff i don't need with me on my external hard drive, such as my iTunes library and random installers and the like. That system is working fine for me and even though I'll have a 160GB hard drive in my next MacBook Pro, I'll still probably use the same system.

My apologies ahead of time if this has been asked by other people recently.

I recently purchased an MBP 2.2 Ghz Matte at my local Apple store, but before I opened the box, I found out you can get 5% cash back from Discover if you use their card and link to the online Apple Store from their website.

I have returned the stock model so I can buy online and get the extra cash back.

My question is: Now that I have the option of a larger hard drive, should I go ahead and get it? The reason I ask is that I know BTOs are harder to return if you have problems, and based on horror stories, I'd like to know if 40gb less of hard disk space is worth being able to exchange at the Apple Store.

Also, is the 5400 RPM 160gb any faster than the 120 due to the perpendicular recording, or is that just a myth? I don't need 7200 RPM, and I am coming from a 700mhz iBook with 640mb of Ram and 20Gb of hard drive. 120 is more than enough for now, but I don't want to run into space problems like on this machine, and have to be super careful on what I keep on the computer so as to not waste space.

Thanks ahead of time for your advice,

Sam

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BTO you can't return, but can obviously get repaired. Keep in mind mostly people post when they have horror stories to tell, not when they have a perfect comp. That said, most comps will be fine, not like there's a worse chance that BTO will have problems. It really depends on what you will be using it for, and if an external hard drive would be suitable for you in the future. For me 40GB internally more is a lot for portability. I mean that 40GB would hold my music collection (only like 12GB), pictures, and lots of other things. I plan to buy a BTO, because I want the 7200rpm. Like I said, what will you be using it for? For a lot of people 120 is fine, that's currently what I have in my PC laptop, and it requried 2 drives to have such capacity!

I'll primarily be using it for basic tasks, such as web browsing, watching movies/listening to music, and maybe some MS Office work, along with light game, either with Parallels, VMWare or Boot Camp. I might have older versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, and Dreamweaver, if they work well in Rosetta, but they would rarely be used.

My main reason for getting the Pro and not the MacBook is the Matte screen. I REFUSE to get a glossy screen, and I hate how I have to pay through the nose not to get one. BUT, that is a topic for another thread, and not this.

I would like lots of space for music, movies (maybe) and tv shows (mainly free or purchased via iTunes). Going from a 20gb drive, even a "small" 80gb drive would be nice, but I don't want to get into a crunch 3-4 years down the road. Since the new machine will cost me twice what my current machine cost in 2003, and might not last as long, I want to make sure I get my money's worth.

I upgraded to 160 GB HDD. I figured it would be easier than trying to install a bigger HD in the future. I plan to use a fairly large bootcamp partition and have lots of music/movies to go on the HDD. I can't return which is slightly concerning, but there is a very small chance that I would want to.

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